Colleges and Universities continuously attempt to increase enrollment each year; while prospective students struggle to gauge whether a degree offers a clear and articulable return on investment. The purpose of this action research study is to investigate influencing enrollment factors (hereinafter "factors) that determine a prospective students college choice, and how school administration can increase the return on investment for each student. This research began with Cycle 0, which highlighted how various factors influence an average prospective student's choice to apply to specific university and, more importantly, complete registration. The findings of Cycle 0 shaped the specific research questions germane to each individual students' enrollment decisions. These questions formed the foundation for Cycle 1 and were used to determine how prospective students' career aspirations contribute to their matriculation decisions. Cycle 1 had four distinct groups: 1) marketing professionals; 2) enrollment counselors; 3) prospective students; and 4) current students & alumni. Given the abovementioned diversity of participants, this research has substantial insight to determine both the key enrollment factors (i.e. Cycle 0) and how a students' career aspirations are apropos to their matriculation (i.e. Cycle 1). Essentially, Cycle 1 created a novel paradigm in which two perspectives primarily influence matriculation choices. The first perspective is that of the college marketing and enrollment professionals. That viewpoint is necessarily juxtaposed to, and potentially in competition with, the students' individual desires. Analyzing these possibly competing positions, helps higher education administrators optimize their marketing practices, while providing the students a conduit to achieving their individual goals. Cycle 2 explores typical marketing tactics and the factors most influential to a prospective student's matriculation. Action steps were designed and implemented to build a set of recommendations supporting post matriculation success for incoming college students. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]